JPMorgan Chase’s rock-bottom $2 a-share bailout of Bear Stearns is not sitting well with the investment banker. Bear, which was noted for its bare knuckled approach to business until the mortgage crisis cut it down to size, is downright bashful about the JPMorgan Chase bailout because it is quite a comeuppance.

BS, which once traded for more than $170 a-share, barely acknowledges on its website the landmark deal that has left Wall Street speechless. The firm issued a release on March 16 only to say that the first-quarter earnings announcement that was slated for today “will not occur” in “light of entering into an agreement to merge with JP Morgan Chase.”

A shareholder without access to financial news would be puzzled by that barebones announcement. After all, faithful visitors to Bear’s website thought the firm was doing the best that it could in the current dicey financial environment.

On March 14, a release told of a “secured loan facility with JPMorgan Chase.” Schwartz said his firm “has been subject of a multitude of market rumors regarding our liquidity.” Bear “has tried to confront and dispel these rumors and parse fact from fiction.” The JPMorgan Chase lifeline will “restore confidence in us in the marketplace, strengthen our liquidity and allow us to continue normal operations.” So much for that.

Bear did leave the door ajar for news of a future shake-up. The last line of the release: “The company can make no assurance that any strategic alternatives will be successfully completed.” The rest is history.

Bear has been a publicly traded company for 20 years. At the very least, it should give investors its side of the story concerning the corporate giveaway to JPMorgan Chase. Perhaps a Chapter 11 filing would have been a better option for shareholders.

One thing is for certain. Bear, which liked to remind shareholders on its site that it has enjoyed 83 years of profitability, isn’t likely to repeat this year.